Suede Announce New Album, Offer Free Download

Suede has announced details of its sixth studio album: Bloodsports, the band's first record since 2002's A New Morning, will be released in March, and preceeded by a single, "It Starts and Ends With You". In the meantime, they're giving away new song "Barriers" as a free download from their website-- or, listen above. As the Quietus points out, Brett Anderson hinted that something was afoot in a floridly worded post on the band's forum last week.

Of the album, Anderson says:

"After a year of sweating and bleeding over the record it's finally finished so we wanted to get some music out there as soon as we could. "Barriers" isn't the first single but we are proud of it enough just to chuck it out there and thought that it's pulsing, romantic swell somehow summed up the feel of the album quite nicely . The album is called Bloodsports. It's about lust, it's about the chase, it's about the endless carnal game of love. It was possibly the hardest we've ever made but certainly the most satisfying. Its 10 furious songs for me have reclaimed from ourselves what Suede was always about; drama, melody and noise."

The band has also announced a one-off date at London's Alexandra Palace for March 30. Watch the video for 1996's "The Beautiful Ones" below: